Sparks
by QuickSpinner
Summary: This short piece is set during the movie, right after Eep and Guy's hunt. Eep wants Guy to show her how to make fire.


_AN: I first saw the Croods when it came out on DVD, and I very much enjoyed it, especially the cute budding relationship between Eep and Guy. I have a bunch of thoughts and ideas I'm tossing around, but this one is so short and simple I can't overthink it, so it's the first that I've been willing to post. Thanks for reading and hope you like! The movie sort of handwaves the boring part between Eep and Guy hunting the bird and cuts to them all eating the bird, and I started thinking about what might have gone on in the meantime. Thus, this bit was born. Enjoy!_

Guy had to work quickly to get the fire pit built and big enough, before the Croods tore into the big bird. As hungry as he was, he was pretty sure that watching them tear the raw bird to pieces would kill his appetite as dead as the big bird. Grug's paranoia was on his side, for once - when Guy insisted that eating it raw would make them sick, Grug took over plucking the bird, keeping the others at a distance. The Croods hovered hungrily around the big man, except for Eep. She was beside Guy, practically breathing down his neck, as he laid the wood out.

"How do you think of all these things?" Eep asked admiringly.

As usual, her admiration made him a little uncomfortable, though he didn't understand why. He hadn't been around others enough to know that he was shy, and the fluttery, warm feeling in the pit of his stomach was unfamiliar to say the least. Why did she insist on standing so close? "Well, uh, I didn't really have a choice," Guy admitted, looking away. "I mean, look at me. I'm not nearly as strong or as fast as you guys."

"You are kind of skinny," Eep agreed, poking him.

"Hey!" Guy shied away from her. "Anyway, yeah, so it was desperation really. I couldn't chase my food down so I had to find a way to make it come to me."

"Your way is a lot easier," Eep said thoughtfully. "But not as much fun."

Guy smiled a little. "It doesn't always work," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was pretty smart of you to let that bird chase you into the trap."

She glowed. "Really?"

"Yeah," Guy said, "And, you know, the running, and the bouncing, and the-" he waved his arms around and mimed an imitation of some of Eep's acrobatics. "That was amazing."

She grinned widely, pleased at the compliment, and he cleared his throat and turned back to the fire, picking up a small branch to shred for tinder. He pulled his knife out and carefully shaved thin curls of wood from the stick.

"What's that for?" Eep asked, right as his elbow, and he jumped. Her breath sent the pile of shavings scattering, and he hurried to scrape them back up.

"Hey, back off a little, will you?" he said, shoving her shoulder - completely ineffectively. She backed up a few paces anyway.

"Sorry," she said, still focused on his hands. "What's that for?" she repeated.

"The small pieces burn more easily. The sparks won't catch in the big sticks."

"Sparks?" he felt her come closer again, though with more caution.

"Yeah," he said, taking his striker stones from his hip. He held them up and struck one against the other, producing a spark.

"Ohhhhh," Eep breathed.

"Do-uh, do you want to try?" Guy asked, not even sure why. Eep lit up, and he handed the stones over.

She giggled, and then bit her lip in concentration as she slammed the stones together. Guy winced.

"You don't have to do it so hard," he said, "And you need to hold them more at an angle." He reached out and repositioned her hands. She tried again. Nothing happened. "No-here," he moved behind her and reached his arms around to take her hands. "Here. Hold this one still, and turn it like this. Then take this one, and turn it this way, and then," he moved their hands together, and brought the flint against the pyrite in a swift strike. Several bright sparks flashed, and Eep squealed in triumph.

"We did it!" She turned to grin at him, her face inches from his. The sudden flood of heat in his cheeks left him no response other than "Uh."

"So the sparks make the fire?" she asked, oblivious to his discomfort.

"Uh, yeah," he said, drawing back from her.

"Can you show me? Please?" She looked so eager that Guy couldn't refuse.

"Okay, okay, just - come over here." He took her wrist and tugged her over to the pile of wood shavings. "You have to get the sparks really close or they won't catch. Be careful not to blow the wood away," he cautioned, and Eep leaned over the little pile of tinder cautiously, practically holding her breath. She held the rocks over the shavings, looking up at him questioningly. He took her hands and moved them even lower. "Okay," he said, "Just like we did a minute ago."

Her technique was better this time, but she still couldn't produce the spark. She gave a little growl of frustration, and looked up at Guy. "Come show me again," she demanded.

Guy glanced at Grug, who was eyeing them suspiciously from where he was almost finished plucking their dinner, and back at Eep, doing a quick mental calculation of the risks. Eep's scowl decided him. He sighed, and then once again moved behind her, putting his arms around her and taking his hands in his. The first strike didn't take; on the second, the sparks flew, and Guy let go of Eep as soon as he saw them, moving down to blow gently on the tiny smoking ember. It flared up in the tinder, and then danced onto the wood.

"There," he said, sitting back on his heels.

"We did it," Eep bounced excitedly. She turned her grin on Guy. "We did it!"

"Yeah," he said, smiling back. "We did. Here, why don't you go practice with these?" He put his striker rocks in her hands, and she practically squealed as she ran off and threw herself on the ground. He grinned and turned back to the fire.

We. When was the last time he'd been part of a "we?" It was nice. And they'd caught dinner together, as a team. It was somehow fitting that Eep had helped with the fire too.

Grug's rough voice broke into his thoughts. "Alright, it's cleaned. Now what?" Grug asked gruffly, pointing to the denuded bird. Guy sighed through his teeth, and got up, dusting his hands off. What was he thinking? There was no "we" here. He was a captive, and the rumbling in the earth told him that if he didn't get out of here soon, he would really be in trouble.

"Now we put the bird on the fire, and wait," Guy answered, folding his arms.

"More waiting?" Grug threw his hands up. "They're going to eat ME if I tell them to wait any longer."

Guy bit his tongue before he could snap back something that would likely get him pounded, and the giant caveman stalked off to drag the bird to the fire. Guy's eyes slid over to Eep. Just as he glanced at her, the two rocks clacked together and a quick spark lit the girl's features. She laughed and looked for him, waving when she saw he'd been watching. He gave a small wave back. _She learns fast_, he thought, and then turned away, trying to focus his mind on dinner, and escape. The world was ending. This was not the time to be thinking about sparks.


End file.
